Here’s a quick 5-minute-or-less health tip that you can do in the shower. Hydrotherapy is a type of naturopathic medicine that uses water to restore health and ease pain. It can include steam baths, saunas, foot soaks and the like, but these hydrotherapy methods require a more extensive time commitment. If you’re in a time crunch, you can easily sneak a session of hydrotherapy in while you are in the shower. Just alternate between hot and cold temperatures and you’ll enjoy a boost in circulation, a decrease in inflammation, and an all-over body detox.
How Hydrotherapy Heals
Sometimes it’s good to push your body beyond its comfort zone in order to activate internal healing mechanisms. Alternating between hot- and cold-water immersions helps alleviate pain, revitalize energy, and flush toxins from your system.
When you expose your body to cold water, your blood vessels constrict, moving blood to your internal organs. Hot water does just the opposite. It causes your blood vessels to dilate, which flushes waste from body tissues. When you alternate between the two, circulation moves in and out, which releases blocked blood flows, improves detoxification, and helps with nutrient delivery and absorption.
How to Practice Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy is both relaxing and stimulating, so you can practice this 5-minute-or-less health tip while taking your morning shower, or in the evening to help relax before bed.
- First, soak your entire body, including your face, at a comfortable temperature.
- Then, slowly raise the temperature of the water until it’s as hot as you can stand it. Go slow, as you don’t want to burn your skin!
- Next, increase the temperature to cold. Really go beyond your comfort zone, as the cold water cannot hurt you.
- Alternate for seven rounds of hot, and seven rounds of cold.
Really listen to your body. You will be able to tolerate more extreme temperatures with time. Consider investing in showerhead filters with replaceable carbon cartridges so that you aren’t exposed to many of the toxic chemicals—like chlorine and fluoride—that taint the water supply.
